Many large multi-national organizations eschew the simplicity of Charles Handy’s Federal Organization model. Instead, they favor the big, complex, and ugly approach that is the Matrix Model.

Get the Book of the Course!
The Nature of Organizations: A Management Courses Introduction
https://geni.us/bzHaVP

Watching this video is worth 2 Management Courses CPD Points*.
(See below for more details)

The Nature of Organizations
=======================
This video is part of course module number 6.1.2
Program 6: Managing within Organizations
Course 1: The Nature of Organizations
Section 2: Organizational Models


Other videos in this section include:
Edgar Schein's Two Organizational Cultures - https://youtu.be/9C64CXJw83E
Henry Mintzberg's 4 plus 2 Organizational Types - https://youtu.be/JmvYcskjh3E
Charles Handy's Gods of Management - https://youtu.be/yClxu7dzmB4
Charles Handy's Shamrock Organization - https://youtu.be/dGGKT0Mr_HA
Charles Handy's Federal Organization Model - https://youtu.be/69AYxCvT7m4
Charles Handy's Triple-I Company - https://youtu.be/gFRXiMkIg6k
Peter Senge's Learning Organization - https://youtu.be/k1k2h1l2VO0
Adhocracy - https://youtu.be/7QKm0Y3_Hr0
The Agile Organization - https://youtu.be/67NVUeFQMy4
Brian Robertson's Holacracy - https://youtu.be/hz3khhOLT5E
Virtual Organizations - https://youtu.be/Hsovj2jPNPA

LESSON NOTES
Most modern organizations adopt elements of the Matrix organization, once they reach a certain size. But, in its full horror, the Matrix Organisation is a real nightmare to navigate.

Bob is the Technical Director of a mid-size UK subsidiary (TechCo) of a global business (MegaCo). TechCo sells and operates across the world alongside other brands within MegaCo’s Services Division.

Before MegaCo acquired TechCo, Bob was one of the TechCo Directors. Together they made decisions about product development, marketing, sales, and support.

Now, Bob is responsible to MegaCo Services Division Technical Director for Product Development. Also to TechCo’s Managing Director, also to Services Division’s Country Leader.

There are at least three dimensions to MegaCo’s matrix:
1. Brand (TechCo) which sits within Product Set (Services Division)
2. Country (UK), which sits within region (EMEA – Europe, Middle East, and Africa)
3. Function (Technical) which sits within the wider Product vertical

Matrix organizations sound like a great solution to the competing demands of different parts of a large organization. But they force the resolution of those competing demands onto each senior and middle manager.

Even when there is a notional ‘primary dimension’, managers still have a reporting line through other dimensions and therefore can rarely avoid the need to make compromises and disappoint senior executives.

The benefit of Matrix Organizations is they avoid over-centralization. The cost is in creating two, three, or more competing centers!

Tom Peters and Robert Waterman dismiss Matrix Organizations in their 1982 book, In Search of Excellence (https://geni.us/CrE5), as ‘a logistical mess’.

The only way to really make a Matrix Organization work is to give each manager, at every intersection of the matrix, true delegated authority to make the decision that is right at the time. For that to work, each manager needs good quality information at all times, and the ability to assess the situation and make a considered choice.


RECOMMENDED EXERCISE
1. Assess the pros and cons of a highly matrix organizational structure (3 MC CPD Points)
2. To what extent is your organization a matrix organization? How would it improve and what would it lose, if it were to move further in the direction of a fully-matrix structure? (3 MC CPD Points)
3. Compare these pros and cons with those for a Federal Organization https://youtu.be/69AYxCvT7m4 (2 MC CPD Points)

DOWNLOADS
Free Resources
- CPD Tools - https://gum.co/MC-CPD
Paid resources
- Management Courses Onboarding Kit - https://gum.co/MC-ObK ($3)

RECOMMENDED READING
- Understanding Organizations https://geni.us/oB774Do
- Images of Organization https://geni.us/hrOemEs
- Inside Organizations: 21 Ideas for Managers https://geni.us/YwwL
- Gods of Management: The Four Cultures of Leadership https://geni.us/bpPeC5


Managers Need a Basic set of kit to do your job well. Here are my top recommendations: https://kit.co/MikeClayton/manager-s-work-kit (the links are affiliated)

Management Courses Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Points
You can record your Management Courses CPD points on our free, downloadable CPD record log.
Download it at: https://gum.co/MC-CPD

Each video has two levels of MC CPD points. For this video:
- If you simply watched the video, record 2 MC CPD points
- If you also carried out all of the recommended exercises, score a total of 10 MC CPD points

Note:
Links to our book recommendations are affiliated through Amazon

#Management #ManagementCourses #MatrixOrganization